Cottage Pie

A few weeks ago I made a cottage pie for two. I just happened to have all the ingredients in the cupboard - it uses a lot of staples. I adapted the recipe my mum uses as well as a few things from other recipes I've seen - and here is mine.

250g steak Mince
1 large Onion
10 mushrooms
1 clove of garlic
Generous tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
200g chopped tomatoes
150ml beef stock
1 tbsp ketchup
1/4 cup red wine
Tabasco

3 large potatoes
50g salted butter
Milk
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp cream cheese
Grated cheddar
Salt and pepper

Chop the onion and mushrooms well into small pieces. Saute the onions until soft then add the mushrooms. After the mushrooms have changed colour a bit add the steak mince and cook until brown. Finely chop or crush the garlic and add it to the pan to cook for a few more minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chopped tomatoes, beef stock, ketchup and Tabasco and let simmer for 10 minutes stirring frequently. Finally add the red wine and let simmer for another twenty minutes or until most of the liquid has been evaporated and you are happy with the consistency.

At the same time cut the potatoes into quarters and boil until they are very soft to make mash (mine took about half an hour). Let steam cool for a few minutes then add the butter, milk, cream cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. The cream cheese makes the mash very creamy (figures!) without having to add actual cream.

Put the meat mixture in the bottom of a oven dish and when cool, spoon the potato over it. Grate cheddar over the top. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes and then place under the grill for 3-4 minutes to crisp up the top.

Delicious with peas!